The migration is a two stage process. The first stage consist of the deployment of the VCSA. The second stage is the migration of the Windows vCenter data to the newly deployed VCSA.

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Let’s get started!

On your Windows vCenter Server:

Mount the VMware-VCSA-6.5.ISO and navigate to the migration-assistant folder. In there will be a executable called VMware-Migration-Assistant.exe. Right click and select Run as administrator:

It will launch a window like below. Enter the SSO password. The Migration Assistant window will run through a migration precheck. Once the prompt is at Waiting for migration to start you are ready to switch to your other workstation.

Switch over to your Workstation:

Mount the same VCSA 6.5 .ISO and navigate to the vcsa-ui-installer/win32folder. Inside there will be an executable named installer.exe, right click and select Run as administrator:

Welcome to the beautiful VCSA 6.5 Installer! Since our goal is a Windows 5.5 migration click the Migrate option:

If you are using the default self signed certificates you will receive the following message. Click Yes:

You can pick between a vCenter or an ESXi host for the appliance deployment target. I’m going to use a ESXi host. Enter your information and click Next:

If the target is using untrusted SSL certificates the following message will appear. Click Yes:

Enter what you want to name the VCSA virtual machine (as it will appear in vCenter inventory) and assign a Root password. Click Next:

Using the chart pick a deployment size that relates to your environment. For my deployment size I am going to select Tiny as its my home lab. Click Next:

Select a datastore for the VCSA to be deployed on. Click Next:

For best performance do not use the Thin Provisioning checkbox. Since this is my home lab i’ll use it.

Pick a port group and enter a temporary IP address the VCSA can use for the migration. It will only use this IP for the migration and will take over the IP address of the source Windows vCenter server. Click Next:

Look through the Stage 1 Summary, if everything is correct click Finish:

You can monitor the console screens of both the Windows vCenter and the VCSA Installer window. They talk to each other 🙂

You should received a Deployment Complete message. Click Continue:

Note: If you exit the installed you can continue with the appliance setup by using the URL in the message.

The Installer will perform another pre-migration check. My results show some of the VMware Update Manager baselines and files may not be migrated over. No big deal! Click Close:

The installer will delete the computer account of the Windows vCenter and join itself to your domain. Enter an AD account with this permission and click Next:

Select what data you want to migrate over. I chose to migrate everything by selecting the third option. My vCenter was a recent and hasn’t had much time to collect a large amount of data. Once your selection is made click Next:

You can join the Customer Experience Improvement Program or deselect. Click Next:

Go over the Stage 2 Summary, ensure you have a backup/snapshot of your Windows vCenter, and click Finish:

You must select the check box in order to continue

During the data migration the Windows vCenter will be shutdown and the VCSA will be configured with its IP address. Click OK:

You can monitor the console screens of both the Windows vCenter and the VCSA Installer window. They talk to each other much more during Stage 2!

Stage 2 took the most time by far. Once it completes you should have the below screen with a URL to access the VCSA. Click the link then click Close:

On the VCSA 6.5 landing page you have two URLs, one to the Flash web client and the second to the new HTML5 vSphere Client.

Congratulations! You are now running on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5!!!